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Although health insurance coverage is mandated here in the United States, access to lifesaving surgery remains out of reach for nearly 5 billion people worldwide according to a new study published last week in Lancet Global Health. Because of this lack of access to routine surgical procedures, some 17 million people around the world died in 2010 from treatable conditions like gall bladder infections or appendicitis. Others who suffered from cataracts went blind without simple cataract surgery.
Researchers say the global crisis is worse than they originally believed. A recent article in Outpatient Surgery reported on their new study, which analyzed whether patients in 100 countries have access to at least one surgical facility within two hours of their home. The study also looked at whether the surgery performed at that facility would be safe and whether the patient would be able to afford the surgery.
Researchers found that only 5 percent of the 313 million surgeries performed worldwide took place in the poorest countries—even though the population in those countries makes up a third of the world population.
The study’s lead author, John Meara, MD, DMD, MBA, says “There is a pervasive misconception that … providing safe and accessible surgery [is] beyond the reach of any but the richest countries. But our work … clearly shows that not only are the costs of providing these essential services lower than might have been thought, but that scale-up of surgical and anesthesia care should be viewed as a highly cost-effective investment, rather than a cost."
To learn more, read the entire article.
